Newman and Malan leave Middlesex on the verge of victory

Middlesex 181 and 200 for 4 v Glamorgan 198 and 232
Scorecard

Half centuries from Scott Newman and Dawid Malan put Middlesex on the verge of their fourth Division Two victory of the season going into the final day against leaders Glamorgan at Cardiff.

Left 250 for victory in five sessions, thanks to an unbeaten 91 from James Allenby, Middlesex finished day three on 200 for 4 needing a further 50 for a win, which would put a dent in the Welsh county's promotion hopes and also see them knocked off the top of the table.

Middlesex did suffer an early setback when John Simpson was caught off David Harrison at second slip by Tom Maynard, who stuck out a right hand to take a sharp catch. But from 31 for 1 Middlesex's second wicket pair of Owais Shah and, in particular, Newman started to knock the runs off. The second wicket pair added 71 in 24 overs with Newman completing his second half century of the match from 82 balls.

But both Newman and then Shah rather gave their wickets away, especially Newman, who was stumped having gone down the wicket to Robert Croft. Malan was given a life on 19, dropped at midwicket by Ben Wright attempting to sweep Dean Cosker.

But Cosker got his revenge when Shah swept him straight down the throat of James Harris at deep backward square. It left Middlesex 150 for 3 needing 100 more for victory.

Malan went on to make his half century from 123 balls and he and Gareth Berg looked well set to knock off the remainder of the runs required on the final day.

Glamorgan's second innings lasted another 19.4 overs either side of an early lunch, which was taken because of rain. The Welsh county had begun the day on 158 for 8, an overall lead of 173. That was built on quite easily by Allenby and Jamie Dalrymple, still hampered by a broken right thumb, as they dealt quite easily with Tim Murtagh and Pedro Collins' opening bursts.

And when Allenby cut Murtagh for four Glamorgan ensured a 200-run lead. Dalrymple had added another 10 runs to his overnight total of 17 when he was trapped leg before by Toby Roland-Jones as Glamorgan slipped to 196 for 9. It ended a ninth wicket stand worth 76 from 24 overs.

But Glamorgan were not finished there. The 10th wicket produced another 36 runs of which No. 11 David Harrison contributed 26 in 19 balls to add to the 35 he had made in the first innings. Harrison put slow left armer Tom Smith over the rope for consecutive straight sixes at the River Taff end.

But when he was caught behind by wicket-keeper Simpson he left Allenby stranded on 91. Allenby, who had come in when Glamorgan were 34 for four, batted for three hours 33 minutes during which he faced 156 balls with 12 fours.